Ruben Stelleris
Ruben Stelleris was a minor Nightborne noble, head of the third cadet branch of the prominent loyalist House Stelleris, slain in an effort led by fearless Hellstrider Commander Sabariel Dawnbreaker and the poweful Thalassian leywaker Entilzha Firesong. Ruben's branch of the family often handled matters from which the senior nobles wished to officially distance themselves from, allowing his ruthless and often sadistic personality to relish in the brutal crackdown following the Legion's entry into Suramar. History Ruben was born a thousand years before the Sundering would tear Azeroth apart, him and his immediate family often looked down upon as petty "nobles" by the Stelleris leadership. This irked Ruben to no end as he ruthlessly sought to claim House Stelleris as his own via a campaign of assassination and terror of his cousins and uncles. He was suspected though not formally linked to a number of Azshara era assassination attempts on leading Stelleris lords and ladies, though he found little success as they tightened their guard, dressed in opulence as if for entertainment, though ready to apply lethal force at a moment's notice. Ruben's talent with the arcane was average for a Highborne of the time, and he was obsessive about obtaining power through any possible means, and claiming what he saw as his, the mantle of House Stelleris. When Queen Azshara's decree that her arcanists delve deeply into the Well of Eternity to uncover its secrets, Ruben took to the pursuit so heavily he seldom ate or slept, sustaining himself with the arcane lifeblood of the Well amidst the spires of Zin-Azshari. A dossier found in Ruben's possession upon his death boasted of the loyalty to Queen Azshara his cadet line of House Stelleris held during the War of the Ancients, and the document suggests he may have worked under Xavius for a time, seeking endless power in the depths of the Well. Enter, Legion The Stelleris Dossier boasted of Ruben's personal involvement with the Legion via the Well, even claiming "credit" for introducing Azshara and Sargeras. This is very likely a tall tale, though one that shows clearly where Ruben stood, and ultimately, where he would stand until his death. When the first wave of demons began pouring from into the streets of Zin-Azshari, Ruben cheerfully directed them to lowborne districts and any he held a problem or vendetta which, that being a large number of elves given his abrasive personality. When hearing that his native Suramar was among few of the Highborne holdings not supportive of the Legion attack, Ruben claims to have returned home to Suramar seeking to restore Queen Azshara's control over the legendary city from the insubordinate Grand Magistrix Elisande. More likely, he returned to seek out and wipe out his rivals, and for favor with the Queen should efforts to return Suramar to her succeed. Pages of the dossier that initially appeared blank when found, made visible using reagents to illuminate remnant traces of the arcane ink used throughout reveals claims of involvement in two separate plots to assassinate the defiant Elisande. If such is true, it obviously failed, and when the dome sealed Suramar from the outside world, Ruben had no choice but to feign loyalty, though he knew the Legion would come again, and practiced his dark art in secret, over the millennia scrying a number of demonic true names, names he recorded in an elfskin tome infused with tormented souls. Frequently using the book for scrying and continually adding the names of new demons uncovered, Ruben spent nearly ten thousand years plotting and preparing his long awaited revenge, his list of demonic names growing to one of some size given the unfathomable amount of time he devoted to it. The Voidpowder Plot When the dome came down and the Legion marched into Suramar, to Elisande's apparent approval, Ruben immediately began calling in pacts he'd inked, often in the blood of slain relatives, with various demonic entities, most notably the Nathrezim Varenastus, whom Ruben would call upon in a bid to end the resistance with a single shipment of void-tainted arcwine, resulting in near instant withering and the draining of all energies from the body. Staunch loyalists as with the rest of House Stelleris, Ruben's brutality and eagerness to silence any whom questioned the Legion, made him a useful asset to his family, though Ruben sought more. HE wanted to be the one to crush the resistance, not Elisande and most certainly not Stelleris Libertine. Ruben and Varenastus developed the toxic arcwine plot together, and the batch, corrupted via a voidwalker, was given to starving civilians as a test. Initially the drain was a slow one, and though the subjects died, they died because none attempted to intervene, with death taking between several hours and a few days, all spent in torment. Knowing that some light-based magics or agents could reverse the agent, Ruben used a Naga artifact seemingly associated with N'zoth to greatly amplify the deadly nature of the void-wine, with death coming in mere minutes. The substance, refined, was a jet-black, powdery substance which when mixed with arcwine was virtually undetectable. Varenastus slew a number of workers at the Twilight Vineyards, eventually coming to recognize the Crescent Resistance courier and his drop point. It's unclear exactly how the Nathrezim lured the elf onto a pleasure boat to be slain, though he likely took the guise of a female he'd interests in. The unfortunate courier would meet his end there, with Varenastus assuming his guise and distributing the tainted wine to the Waning Crescent and on to Shal'aran. With two shipments missed, stores were very low. Whose The Lowborne? The Thera-dora and Hellstriders, augmented by a Sin'dorei team under Lord Firesong, were investigating the missed shipments early in the resistance, coming upon odd reports of the courier being seen, and seemingly acting normal, despite having been deeply devoted to the anti-Legion cause and never missing a shipment given what's at stake. Varenastus, in the courier's guise, made the delivery and promptly left the Crescent to report to Ruben in the Moonlit Gardens. By this point distribution of the tainted wine was halted after uncovering the courier's body, and one at the Crescent tragically withering from being the first to try the much overdue wine. He would be the only actual resistance figure the wine would harm, and Varenastus, was wholly unaware he was at the time being tracked by Sabariel Dawnbreaker. The Nathrezim would eagerly report that all was going as planned. Ruben smiled and went to sleep, expecting to wake up to news of a spat of deaths and the effective end of the Dusk Lily insurgency. Instead...that never came to be. The day was oddly calm, south of the city without any more withering than any other day. The Nathrezim Varenastus was cornered and slain by Dawnbreaker overnight and his visit to Ruben passed on to the Highguard. With aid from Morgane Devaux, the physical description and location of his villa from Sabariel's report was matched back to Ruben. The extent of his involvement was unknown, but the Dreadlord visiting a Stelleris noble before dying made clear indication that noble knew too much of resistance activities and needed to be dealt with. Erona Valtorin stressed how low arcwine supplies at Shal'aran had dropped, with two shipments missed and a new courier arrangement needed. A cask from Shal'elah was delivered to help Shl'aran though this period, and Erona spoke of the large stockpiles enjoyed by Ruben and other Stelleris nobles. The day after Varenastus delivered the tainted wine, Ruben secluded himself in his cellar with his fel scrying instruments and book of names, as a Highguard team planned his death at Shal'aran and Shal'elah, a Quel'dorei force guided by Shal'dorei knowledge of the city and how to move between the terraces of the highly fortified upper tier, where illusions were close to useless. Ruben was so deep in his scrying, he was unaware his three guards had been slain above, even their calling for him was to no effect. The strike team, led in this operation by Entilzha Firesong, had fought a bloody path from the docks, swimming and sneaking through stairwells and passages to reach the Moonlit Gardens, coercing his actual location out of a marina sentry. Ruben's trance wasn't broken when the squad entered his cellar, and the numerous casks and cases of arcwine teleported out before he was forcibly roused. The wine stores, as Erona spoke, were extensive, more than enough to make up for two missed shipments and permit ample time for a new arrangement. Ruben was woken to a barrage of focused spellfire, his actual strength unknown to the Highguard. A dozen elves attacking him at once snappped Ruben's divination trance,and as he awoke to the odd pale elves spells searing and cutting through his body, Ruben summoned arcane and then increasingly fel to ward himself. This worked for a time, though as the wounded Ruben drew more and more fel, far more than he'd handled before, to sustain himself and defend against the unceasing attacks, attempting to build the strength to flatten them, and if need be half the Terrace. Ruben's sanity would break first, with his appetite for more power insatiable, he lunged foolishly desiring to absorb their energies, though finding only death. Ruben Stelleris would leave behind a legacy of twice betraying Azeroth, a vile elf, sinister and evil even by the standards of a family many consider sinister and evil.. His death was welcome new at Shal'aran, as was his arcwine. Items Recovered Upon Death Ruben's cellar was quickly searched after he fell, and here's some of what was found: * Stelleris Dossier -''' Lineage and history of Ruben's cadet line of House Stelleris, recording affairs of note such as births and marriages, along with deeply personal accounts of affairs, including expression of unwavering support for Queen Azshara, with tactical and operational accounts of the War of the Ancients from the Azshara-Legion side, which are quite rare as Highborne tomes go and of historical value. The document has the potential to expose House Stelleris and assure their crimes do not go unpunished down the line. * 'Mana Pylon Dish -' In a concealed chamber made visible by the removal of a number of crates of wine, the large, upwards-facing crescent moon of what had only been seen before by the Quel'dorei as the top of mana collection pylons in the leystations and in the Twlight Vineyards. Why Ruben held this is unclear, though the device was found to be operational, and as the critical components of such pylons are in the upper dish, a suitable pylon was constructed for the device's installation at Leystation Anasterian. * '''Book of Names - Made of elven skin and imbued wth the agony of tormented souls, Ruben had been using the tome mentioned earlier, which he called simply the "Book of Names" when death came, and it was among the first things noticed after his death. Combined with information from the Dossier, the book may prove useful regarding the Dreadlord Varenastus. The earlier pages have a lighter color to them, and the latter a darker hue, reflecting the shift from Kaldorei to Shal'dorei skin. * Arcwine - Numerous casks and cases stockpiled in the cellar not fat from where Ruben had been scrying. Fourth Telemancer Kadremis locked onto telemancy beacons placed among the wine and redirected the large cache to Shal'aran, stabilizing supply until a new courier was found. Category:Nightborne Category:Burning Legion